Tag: bilingual

Democratic Assemblyman Tony Thurmond managed to come from behind to emerge as California’s new superintendent of public instruction, beating out Marshall Tuck, a fellow Democrat and former Los Angeles executive of charter schools and educational nonprofits.Thurmond sponsored California Assembly Bill 2514 which was passed in September, allocating $300,000 in grant funding to eligible schools, county offices of education and...

Google Trends, which tracks the use of search terms, tweeted this morning that “Dónde Votar” was the top trending search on Google, spiking by more than 3,000%. Within an hour of the tweet, Priorities USA Action, a Democrat super PAC, translated its voter mobilization ads online to Spanish, specifically for voters in Arizona and Florida.This election cycle, Priorities USA Action...

Research into the neurological activity required to switch between languages is providing new insights into the nature of bilingualism.“A remarkable feature of multilingual individuals is their ability to quickly and accurately switch back and forth between their different languages,” explains Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, a New York University doctoral candidate and the lead author of the study, which appears in the...

Lisa A. Frumkes explains why bilingualism is more relevant than ever.In today’s increasingly global and connected world, I interact every day with colleagues from different cultures who speak a wide array of languages. Achieving bilingualism and proficiency in a second language—be it English or another world language—is important for everyone, but especially for 21st-century students.For today’s K–12 students, knowledge...

The state of Louisiana is now a member of the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF). Its application as an observer member was accepted on October 11 by the organization’s member states at their biannual summit in Armenia, along with Ireland, Gambia, and Malta.The 54 full members of the OIF unanimously approved Louisiana’s application at the 17th summit of La...

Laura Hamman, Emeline Beck, and Aubrey Donaldson have developed a framework for designing and integrating more flexible language pedagogies into the bilingual classroom  One day at recess, a distraught five-year-old approached me and proclaimed angrily, “Fulanito me tagó.” Confused, I attempted to understand her meaning: “¿Te tocó?” (“He touched you?”) She shook her head. “¿Te atacó?” (“He attacked you?”). No...

As the midterm elections approach, civic engagement groups Faith in Florida, Hispanic Federation, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, UnidosUS, and Vamos4PR, and individual voter Marta Rivera have filed suit against Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner and the Supervisors of Elections of 32 Florida counties who, they claim, are in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965’s requirement...

Study of local plans identifies key improvements to fix the system Californians Together is releasing a new report today entitled Masking the Focus on English Learners which questions the efficacy of California’s accountability system in identifying the needs of English Learners accurately. The report claims that by combining data from two English Learner subgroups (current and reclassified), the system fails...

Dominika Baran reminds us of the history and value of America’s multilingual past  Every September, or August in some cases, teachers welcome into their classrooms students whose first language is not English. Some of these may be immigrant or refugee children who have just arrived in the U.S. and know not a single English word. Others may have grown up...

On Saturday, in San Antonio, Texas, Maria del Sol Nuñez-Peña spelled anaerobiosis (life without oxygen) to win her second consecutive National Spanish Spelling Bee title.Nuñez-Peña, a 14-year-old, incoming ninth-grader from Chaparral, New Mexico, defeated 42 other contestants from eleven states, including Massachusetts, Florida, and Wisconsin, in the national competition’s eighth year.“I feel very happy and proud of myself,” Maria...